Copywriting Services (That Means CONTENT CREATION – NOT to be Confused with COPYRIGHTING!)

Writing Services are somewhat of a secret no SEO ever wants to let out it would seem. Marketing copywriters who charge hundreds per page also don’t want you to know about these services. I’m probably giving away some kind of trade secret but seriously? I want to get paid for performing search engine optimization, not marking up the price of someone else’s writing and billing my clients for it.

My lot in life doesn’t provide me with the luxury of thoughtful, authoritative writing for myself, that is to say, for my own business sites (such as this one), so I muddle along and post when I have something to say. When I have to, at best I can write expressively for my clients because they won’t spring for a writer and they won’t write anything themselves – and my job is to get their site completed so I have to do it. I can only write for them on their sites if I’m paid well enough to polish my words properly or what I write isn’t likely to convert many visitors – and SEO is all about making conversions and getting more people to complete transactions.

That said, being a web copywriter (someone who writes articles for web sites) isn’t what I prefer to do, and I always tell my clients they would do much better to hire someone else to write if they can’t do their own. The reason for writing on your web site is to sell. It’s not for any other reason. By that I don’t mean direct sales pitches though certainly those are exceedingly important. What I mean is that your writing must be there to draw visitors from the internet either through searches or through links on other web sites (well read ones, not dead sites nobody goes to!) that will bring interested visitors to your site.

So then how much do Copywriters charge? A hundred dollars a page? Two hundred dollars? Three hundred a page?? (A page is 500 words by the way). Yes, that’s how much they charge – and more. So why even bother reading any further and just give up and go away – you can’t afford that!

Neither can my clients. Neither can I. I wouldn’t pay $100 to $300 for a page unless that text on that page earned four times as much in increased sales the first year. So if you pay $300 you had better increase your total sales of that product by $1200 in addition to what you were making previously. In my professional opinion anything else is bad business, and I know that any professional copywriter reading this is ready to scream bloody murder right about now.

Fact is though that there are tens of thousands of full time employed professional writers, journalists etc who are perfectly capable of pumping out 1,000 words in an hour who are working for companies that pay them under $30 an hour to work behind a desk or from home all day. A lot of them are also dealing with company downsizing issues. That’s not good for these copywriters so they fill in time making money from thin air by writing – and YOU benefit.

The first one I haven’t tried as of yet but it’s hopeful. They’re the least expensive. I’m planning to try them once or twice to see what kind of quality writing they return: http://www.iwriter.com/ I can’t vouch for the quality but if you pick highest quality writing and have an article (500 – 1000 words) written each week on any topic you choose, then go over it and add in what you want, who knows? I’d do 500 to 800 words once to give it a try, then if it’s any good try it again. It could be useful for you. I plan on using it myself if it is. The other ones I do use are https://www.textbroker.com/ (slower uptake getting started, it seems, and you have to verify before the first order so check your emails!) and http://www.writeraccess.com/ This last one (writeraccess) has been really good. I used them to write for a client who loved the results. So for under $50 (figure $25 to $35 average), depending upon how many words you want written you’re going to not have to worry about getting something good and well researched written to say what you want it to say (e.g. pro, con, whatever your company stance is on the topic), finished in 24 hours, and by the way – I highly recommend that you choose the top level of writing available. You’ll get better work and never have to be sorry you didn’t go higher later.

Finally, Hubspot has a nice article on 7 Secrets to Outsourcing a Killer Content Creation Team which may help you choose how to best evaluate the various services writers so you can assemble your own go-to team of writers whenever you need something new. Ok – so now you’ve gone ahead and signed up for the writing service – but you need to know how and what they should write, and how what they’re writing is supposed to be measured for success. After all, you can’t disqualify someone as a good writer if you don’t know what you should be looking for! And that requires having at least one good analytics tool on your site and tracking whatever other means you’re using to gain new clients and prospective clients from your site’s writing. The most highly respected BlueGlass has put together “How to Write Content That Converts”.

Social Media Marketing
LARGEST and most active social media marketing group on LinkedIn.com with over 600,000 members as of March, 2013, including 20 subgroups for special interests, such as Social Media Marketing & NonProfits, Social Media & Politics, etc.

SES Conference & Expo
SES Conference & Expo global event series educating delegates in search and social marketing focusing on tactics and best practices: instruction from the industry’s top experts, including representatives from the Search Engines themselves.

Search Engine Land
Search Engine Land is a hub for news and information about search engine marketing, SEO, PPC, and how search engines work such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing.

SEO Philippines
SEO Philippines is a group composed of search engine marketing (SEM) professionals dedicated to the development of the SEM and Internet marketing industries in the Philippines.

MOZ
We believe in better marketing: optimizing your site so it can be found on the web, being responsive through social media, joining relevant conversations about your industry, and creating content that people love.

New York City Power Group
Established 2009 and is a professionally-run group that diligently meets every two weeks. Officially incorporated as a 501(c)(7) organization, the group’s goals span from building business to social networking events and charity events.